3. The predominance of informal employment has been
one of the central features of the labour
market in India.
UNORGANIZED SECTOR
ORGANISED SECTOR
However, the unorganized sector is
characterized by low wages that are often
insufficient to meet minimum living
standards along
with several other issues such as
inadequate nutrition, long working hours,
hazardous working
conditions, lack of basic services such as
first aid, shortage of clean drinking water
and proper
sanitation facilities. Labourers in the
unorganized sector are often trapped in a
vicious cycle,
starting work as children and continuing
well into their old age.
4. Disturbing Characteristics of Informal
Employment
• Hazardous Working Conditions
Long working hours , Lack of First aid
• Low Wages
• Inadequate nutrition
5. Conflict that arises!!
• Identifying the unorganized workforce is extremely complex
as they operate outside the tax ambit.
• Informal workers are disparate and fragmented which makes
enforcement and provisions by centralized schemes difficult
to administer.
• There is no consensus nationally on the classification of the
unorganized sector, for example, whether seasonal migrants
or micro entrepreneurs can be treated as workers.
6. CREATING A STEP BY STEP DATABASE
OF THE INFORMAL WORKERS
• A basic overview : •Central Government gets data from state
government.
•State government gathers the information
provided by employers , zila parishads and
government representatives .
•Employers , zila parishads and
representatives directly deal with the
workers.
7. We will build a Centralized database
for the workers
• This process sounds like a lot of work but it
can easily be divided into a lot of sub-
processes
• But first we need to know types of workers
and how many of them are skilled - unskilled
and agricultural – non-agricultural
• This is the basic concept around which I have
revolved my innovative idea.
8. My Innovative Approach.
My basic approach is too centralize all the
information of the informal sector workers in a
data base so that they can be recognized by the
government and since all the information would
be at a single place it will be very easy to
administer .
Since all of the data will be with the
government therefore the Informal
sector workers could be provided with
safety and social security net.
9. How To Implement ?
• This Process can be categorized as a multi-tier process.
• At first we would need create a central body for collection of
all the data and this body would have sub-bodies in all the
states.
• Each of these sub-body will gather data from contractors ,
Builders and will also have representatives.
• These representatives would go to road-side vendors and
other daily-wage workers and collect their information .
• It would be made mandatory for all the contractors and
builders to give the details of all their labours .
10. Getting the Data for Agricultural
workers.
98% of informal employment is in agriculture
therefore it is important to get their data .
For this purpose we would need to instruct the
zila-parishad to gather the information regarding the
informal agricultural workers from their panchayats.
Panchayats could gather data from these workers and
store it on a digital device(a representative could be
sent) .
Then they handover the information to the zila-
parishad . The zila parishad would then combine all
the data gathered by the panchayats and hand it over
to the representative appointed by the city’s
branch.(explained later)
11. Getting the data for non agricultural
workers.
• This may be called a relay process.
• The workers can be divided into labours working in construction sites and
in factories.
• Government should make it mandatory for the owners of these
construction sites and factories to make their workers( both daily wage
workers and contract workers) to go through the process of registration
with the state sub-body which will have their branches in all the cities.
• The branches in these cities will have sub-branches in various zones .
• Each zone will have a number of representatives.
• These representatives will collect the data from zilas and factories and
will hand it over to the zone branch which will in turn hand it over to the
city branch.
• The city branch will combine all the data from various zones and hand it
over to the state sub-body.
12. Getting the data from workers working
from home and street vendors.
• The city branch of the state sub-body will have
a number of zone branches.
• These zone branches would send
representatives to various markets and places
where these kind of workers are known to stay
who would collect the data.
• The zone branch could also start various drives
that would encourage these workers to
register.
13. What is this Data? What would happen
to it?
• The data would be information regarding the workers like their
name , no of family members, number of earning members in the
family , their address , ration number , their family annual income ,
whether they are skilled or unskilled or are daily wage or contract
workers , etc.
• The data collected by the representatives will be given to the city
branch which would then be given to the state sub-body.
• The state sub-bodies will then combine all the data and will run it
through a software which would show how many workers are
unskilled and their information.
• These workers could then be trained hence boosting labour
productivity.
• This data would then be given to the central body which would
combine all the data and store it in a centralized database
14. Why would this work ?
• A simple answer to this question-everyone wants benefits.
• Each registered worker will get a smartcard. This smartcard would
act as their licence to work no worker would be allowed to work
without it .
• A worker would be required to scan the smartcard at a scanner
while entering the factory or construction site and while leaving it.
• The scanner would be linked to a cash dispenser and when the
worker signs out the machine would automatically calculate his or
hers working hours and pay them accordingly , Hence eliminating
low wages .
• The machine would also store the working hours of the labours
which could be inspected at any time hence eliminating long
working hours
15. Some other benefits!
• Workers with these smartcards would also get other
facilities like healthcare , benefits in employability ,
etc.
• Unskilled workers would have access to skill training.
• Agricultural workers would be entitled to buy seeds ,
fertilizers etc at a subsidized price.
• This smartcard would also act as an insurance for the
worker and their family.
• Furthermore the workers who are unemployed would
get a fixed amount of wages by the government.
16. THIS IDEA COULD HELP THE
GOVERNMENT KEEP A RECORD OF
THESE WORKERS AND WOULD HELP IN
PROVIDING A SAFETY AND SOCIAL
SECURITY NET TO SUCH WORKERS AND
WILL EVEN BE A BOOST FOR
INDIA’S LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY.
